Espresso

By John LethleanApril 2 2002

The house of Windsor

For those with radar tuned for Melbourne's next happening food pub, turn
towards Windsor. Yelza's Tracey Lester, whose partner Noel Fermanis has been
behind some of Melbourne's funkier reborn pubs (Builders and Bakers Arms, Great
Britain), has taken over the Windsor Castle and opens this week, with chef Danny
Chapman behind the pans and running the dining room. Chapman, a Brit, has worked
with some of Melbourne's best chefs over the years, at legendary restaurants
including Rhubarbs with Ian Curley and The George and Adelphi with Jeremy
Strode. Recently, he's been running his own food store in Richmond. We've looked
at his menu and like what we see. "It's meant to be fun, not being religious or
overly serious about it," says Danny boy. The Windsor Castle, in Albert Street,
re-opens this Friday.

Mecca pilgrimage

With the NewQuay project at Docklands rapidly progressing, Mecca partner and
head chef Cath Claringbold has appointed Nicky Riemer to the chef position of
Mecca Bah, one of two restaurants (the other is Livebait) the Mecca partners are
developing in the new precinct. Riemer is a long-term Stephanie Alexander
protege (as was Claringbold), although she left Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder
last year for a brief stint at Scintilla, the cafe at Leo's supermarket in
Heidelberg. They hope to open Mecca Bah in June.

Change of pace

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Is this the end of fine dining in Melbourne? No, says Jacques Reymond, who
closes his Windsor restaurant on May 12 for a major four-week revamp. "But I'm
getting sick of the formula entree, main course, dessert. (This will be) a very
radical change for the restaurant." Not only is Reymond implementing a radical,
contemporary redesign by Andrew Parr of SJB Interiors (MG Garage and
Establishment Hotel with Hecker Phelan, Sydney, and Red Orange, Prahran), which
involves some structural alteration to the Victorian mansion, but he is also
working on a totally new formula of smaller dishes that is more in line with
today's dining, following extensive consultation with family and staff. There
will always be a multiple-course, set-price degustation menu, however. "The
restaurant at the moment is a bit of a beige-out," says designer Parr. He
describes his plans as being for a restaurant that is "still formal, but with a
sense of drama". Reymond plans to auction a lot of the surplus .xtures and
.ttings to make way for the revamp. Plans for a separate, totally new business
are still with the lawyers, says the Burgundian, but might be revealed next
week.

Stranded

Be a chef, see the world. It has certainly been that way for Irishman John
Nolan, 29, who was executive sous chef at Sir Terence Conran's La Pont de la
Tour in London when he got a call last year offering him a job as chef de
cuisine for Max's at Melbourne's Grand Hyatt. Nolan and his partner, now a
pastry chef at Pearl, chucked their London jobs for the adventure, arriving in
August. But, in January, Nolan heard from a gas.tter, of all people, that the
restaurant was closing. "I really love Melbourne, but the last seven months
haven't been the best of times," says the chef, who now faces being sent away
from Australia if he cannot .nd a job in the next .ve weeks. This is the
not-so-glamorous side of travelling with your restaurant quali.cations. Nolan
has held some impressive positions in Ireland, England and Germany, but right
now, he's not too choosy.

Hero in the making

Now that the Sous Sol project, in the basement of the Hero building, has been
abandoned by the Sibley-Cooke-Heaneys in favour of Ondine, the question arises:
just who will take over Nonda Katsalidis' new Russell Street space? Espresso's
surveillance cameras have caught some high-powered, and very well-known,
restaurant industry personalities and chef-restaurateurs entering and exiting
the bunker in the past weeks, casting furtive glances up and down the street on
departure, lest their interest be noticed. We can't say anything yet. But
there's no shortage of interest in Hero, and some pretty interesting potential
partnerships in the offing.